St. Patrick, pray for us!

Today is the Optional Memorial of St. Patrick, bishop and confessor

This day is not all about leprechauns, shamrocks and green beer. This is a day to honor and pray to St. Patrick. He was an influential saint who, 1,500 years ago, brought Christianity to the little country of Ireland. He was born about 385 in the British Isles, was carried off while still very young during a raid on England by the Irish and sold as a slave. At the end of six years he contrived to escape to Europe, became a monk and was ordained; he then returned to Ireland to preach the Gospel. During the thirty years that his missionary labors continued he covered the Island with churches and monasteries; in 444 he founded the metropolitan see of Armagh. St. Patrick died in 461. After fifteen centuries he remains for all Irishmen the great bishop whom they venerate as their father in the Faith.

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Also, of interest today: The Irish Madonna of Hungary

The veneration of Our Lady unites men all over the world in love, homage and supplication. It is not surprising therefore that an image of her which is dear to the hearts of one nation calls forth a sense of brotherhood and reverence in a far distant land. It is almost as if these images formed the material links in a vast chain of prayer. So the Irish Madonna of Hungary has joined two nations.

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And Our Lady in Old Irish Folklore and Hymns

The tradition and literature of the Gael provide ample evidence that early Christian Ireland was in a very marked way devoted to the Mother of God. Of these sources of evidence, the most telling and fascinating seem to be folklore and hymns.

Read more here... for example, this hymn:

Safe from the rugged thorn springs up the tender rose
In honour hidden the parent stem, in beauty's softness grows;
So from the sinful stem of Eve all sinless Mary came,
To cover and to expiate her mother's deed of shame.

Collect:
God our Father, you sent St. Patrick to preach your glory to the people of Ireland.
By the help of his prayers, may all Christians proclaim your love to all men.
Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
Amen.
St. Patrick, ora pro nobis!